Princesa Blanca took Goya Kong’s mask, but is now stuck feuding with her for the rest of time. A genuine monkey’s paw situation.

CMLL has a press event Thursday at noon. It’s the usual bit of not announcing it publicly ahead of time, but bits and pieces leaked out.

The Infierno en el Ring cage match should be announced. We know the participants (the 10 guys in the cibernetico on Friday), and the only thing left is to say if it’ll be on 07/12 or 07/19.

Another major show will take place on Friday August 16, likely involving the same group of independent luchadors seen on the Arena Coliseo Anniversary show.

Marco Corleone teased a positive injury update which will be announced Thursday.

Titan vs Averno will definitely be spotlighted. Guerrero Maya plans on challenging for the Arena Coliseo tag team titles next Sunday, so maybe that’ll be officialized here. That show will probably also be an Arena Mexico one.

There should be updates on the En Busca de un Idolo tournament and CMLL’s recent adventures in Japan. It’s possible CMLL may mention their participation in the G1 tournament, since NJPW will be releasing the full list of participants in about 15 hours later.

There’s probably a bit more than that. It sure looks like there’s also a cage match coming in Puebla (on 07/14 or 07/21) and that’s something that should be stated here. Something spotlighting the Estetas makes sense. Ideally, they’d go as far as announce the Anniversary show date as well.

If you go with the theory that Titan, La Mascara and Rush won the trios titles more by happening to be around the week CMLL decided they needed to do a trios change, then maybe it has little effect on the outcome here. Or maybe Averno just wins to keep the titles spread out. Should be really good either way, and the tercera does not look bad either. Namajague’s worked as a Terrible replacement before.

Only 41 luchadors on this show, anorexic by IWL standards. IWL appears to only have one main event. Tercera could be good if given time (and everyone shows up, which is not always the case with the ex-IWRG trio.)

Next QPPLC sessions in Guadalajara on November 10/11th. It’s a few weeks before Guerra de Titanes, and the last preliminary round before the final on December 8.

IWRG (SUN) 10/14/2012Arena Naucalpan [IWRG]
1) Astro Rey Jr. & Johnny Rivera b Epidemia & Star Boy Jr.Star Boy is back as a rudo, Astro Rey is just back. Straight falls for the tecnicos, though the rudos dominated most of the match.
2) Dinamic Black & Freelance b Comando Negro & JackYack is back as a rudo, replacing Impossible. Tecnicos took 2/3, Freelance winning with a top rope ‘rana on Comando Negro. Money thrown back in the ring.
3) Factor, Freyser, Rayan DQ Carta Brava Jr., Oficial 911, Oficial AK47Freyser replaced Carta Brava I. Rudos took 2/3, Factor tossing his mask to AK47 for the DQ.
4) el Ángel, Pantera, Veneno vs Scorpio Jr., Violencia Jr., ZumbidoTecnicos took 2/3. Violencia Jr. wants a title match with Angel, but it was Veneno who beat Violencia Jr. with a senton for the win. Money thrown in the ring.
5) Hijo de Máscara Año 2000 & Pirata Morgan b Cien Caras Jr. & Hijo de Pirata Morgan [Relevos Increíbles]family didn’t want to fight finally, but the Hijo de Pirata/Cien team jumped the opposition and took the first. Fans yelled at the teams until they fought their usual partner. Pirata Sr./Hijo de Mascara rallied back to take second. Factor was doing a ringside interview in the third, and Hijo de Pirata & Cien attacked him. Third fall saw Pirata Sr. beat Cien and Mascara beat Hijo de Pirata with a top rope powerbomb. Factor came for revenge with a chair, setting up another triangle match with Hijo de Pirata and Hijo de Mascara

Shocker, promoting his new restaurant, says he’s hoping to be back a month. That makes the lineups plugging Shocker’s return last Friday odder still.

CMLL’s put out press about the CMLL Super Lightweight tournament, though there’s no mention of who’s in next week’s block. The two blocks will be fought in ciberenticos. Picking favorites depends on which of CMLL’s multiple personalities is in charge of this tournament, and that’s always unknown. I’d rate Hijo del Signo, Palacio Negro and Guerrero Maya as the favorites, Rey Cometa, Magnus, Hombre Bala as the next group and Inqusidior and Trueno as highly unlikely. I’m going to pick Palacio Negro because I like Palacio Negro and Maya has other things to do and there’s not much more to go on.

My guess at next week’s sides: Metal Blanco, Delta, Puma King, Tiger Kid, Angel de Plata, Fuego, Pegasso and Bobby Zavala. I figure Angel de Oro, Diamante and Polvora are above this title, Rey Escorpion is too big, and Dragon Lee is still injured. I would have Yoshihashi in this tournament, just because it’s supposed to be a world championship so you might as well include one non-Mexican, but I think he’s trying to be a non-Super Lightweight. Angel Azteca Jr. was the runner up last time, but seems completely forgotten and a long shot to even make it in.

Jeff Jarrett continues to threaten that TNA will replace AAA, which is nice because it’ll give me two less hours of TV to recap a week. He’s a swell guy. Also, Rob Van Dam says “Doctor Wagner Junior” and appears to think he’s on Sesame Street. I do totally now want to see Dr. Wagner punch RVD in the face, mission accomplished!

Like this:

Doctor Wagner Junior is without an AAA contract. He signed a one year deal in the run up to last year’s TripleMania and worked this year’s TripleMania without one. AAA put the AAA World Heavyweight title on him to keep him happy and get him to stay, and were under the belief he’d be signing a two year deal contact, and possibly an additional one to lose his mask.

AAA was unaware Wagner was showing up in Nuevo Laredo, finding out around the same time as everyone else. Dorian Roldan and Dos de Tres have noted the situation, but haven’t strongly reacted to it. (Dorian’s been overly magnanimous, congratulating Mistico and wishing Histeria luck for Sunday.) AAA hasn’t t buried Wagner or threatened punitive action and Dr. Wagner said he had no problem with AAA, so he could easily end up merrily back in AAA.

Dr. Wagner Junior is not listed on any AAA spot show until the TV taping in Toluca on 07/29. AAA isn’t consistent or complete about putting out lineups, so that may not especially mean anything. Also, we’re still waiting on their Lucha Libre Expo TV taping lineup, which they’ve said will be out today.

It’s not clear how much a CMLL was a part of it; while this was a show with CMLL wrestlers, it was still one being run by the local promoter. I doubt the wrestlers would’ve let him walk out there without some understanding, but it’s not as meaningful or permanent as if the same bit was done in Arena Mexico. They might have let Wagner walk around just to prove a point in Nuevo Laredo, but he wouldn’t be allowed to do the same in Mexico City without a done deal.

The contract’s the issue. AAA’s probably going thru some issues, since we just heard about Rocky Romero leaving after the last set of taping due to a pay cut, and maybe that’s an issue with Wagner’s deal as well. However, CMLL hasn’t been handing out great deals either. About a month ago, the WON mentioned CMLL had major cutbacks in wrestler’s deals, taking everyone besides five (Mistico, Ultimo Guerrero, Shocker, Negro Casas, Hector Garza + outsiders) off guaranteed contracts and back to being paid via (low) percentage of the house. There are always different better deals available to top guys jumping from one company to another, but it’s not a profitable time to be a luchador.

There’s also the possibility of Dr. Wagner going back to the indies for some time, as he did between his last CMLL stint and this time in AAA. There’s much fewer options now than there were in the independents a year and a half ago – Los Perros are almost done, EAW is barely running shows, Monterrey is quiet, he may be locked out of Arena Naucalpan due to their deal with AAA – but Wagner coming off AAA TV with the title will have tons of promoter interest. It could be like what’s happened with Bryan Danielson’s schedule, but ten fold. Wagner would also be a great addition to the MTV2 Masked Warriors group. They already have all that AAA footage with him!

With the AAA video game not out for three months, Slang and AAA could certainly change the cover, and they had mock ups for alternate Parka/Elegido/Silver King covers at E3. If he left, Dr. Wagner would become the eleventh guy currently listed in AAA’s video game who has quit the company, one quarter of the video game roster.

Oriental is Noe Astro Moreno Leon, according to CMLL Magazine. (Astro?) He’s 37, 17 years a wrestler. No photo as I type this, but I’m sure we’ll see one later.

Order of escape went Sombra & Histeria (who’s now free to put his mask up on Sunday), Alebrije & Volador, Averno & Ultimo Guerrero, and Atlantis & Olimpico. Mistico beat Oriental in what seemed like a longer match than the entire eliminations prior.

The big news from the rest of the show was the appearance of Dr. Wagner Junior. It was hinted early this morning by SuperLuchas, and was revealed a few hours before the show by Box Y Lucha. He appeared after the fourth match, first posing with his son, then circling around in the ring, all while wearing his AAA World Heavyweight Championship belt (he also had the video game belt.) When he went to the ring and posed, everyone was under the impression this meant Wagner had left AAA and was joining CMLL as an Invader. Upon returning to the locker room, Dr. Wagner instead told the press that he was on good terms with AAA, and everyone backed off saying he was leaving.

People who are on good terms with a company do not show up at a major show for a rival promotion, being as visible as possible. (And CMLL isn’t going to let Wagner be part of the show unless they wanted him to be part of the show.) Wagner may end up staying with AAA, uninterrupted, but this was a very petulant move to make a point; AAA’s treated him as an afterthought to the Perros del Mal entry, the Parka/Park story, and the Legion stuff, and Wagner has always felt he should always be on top. That seems to be the wrestling he grew up with – in the UWA, Canek doesn’t seem to have ever been cycled down the card or bypassed much; he was either the top rudo feuding with the top tecnico, or the top tecnico feuding with the foreign guy. That’s spot doesn’t really exist in either promotion, but Wagner can sure come close by jumping back and forth between them like this.

This bit was also totally hilarious. For most of the night, AAA only response was an enigmatic tweet from Lucha Libre AAA, which is so unspecific, it may have nothing to do with any of this. Later, Dorian Roldan seemed surprised, generally the same reaction as everyone else, though his post gives the impression Wagner left.

Dr. Wagner is not listed on any lineups from now until the Toluca taping, though he’s almost surely scheduled to be on the Lucha Libre Expo show, and there’s probably other lineups AAA hasn’t put on it’s website. At the point, the expectation is he’ll still be working AAA shows, but it’s a fluid situation. We’ll know more soon. This would be a fantastic time for Cesar to come back from his blog vacation.

If we’ve been reminded of anything, anything at all, from La Parka vs LA Park, is that people remember what they saw in the ring and not what was said later. Tonight, Wagner made people believe he’s jumped to CMLL, and interviews aren’t going to undo that.

Not a lot of noteworthy material on the show. Tiffany was the mystery woman for the Invaders. At the time of the press conference, she was still working AAA spot shows, which is probably the reason they kept it quiet. Not sure if this means anything for her brother, ex-Night Queen Jessy, who’s also working AAA spot shows without making TV in years. Tiffany was a big part of AAA in the mid 2000s, but really hasn’t been used much since Pena’s death and since she left to have a kid. She was still good, last we saw her, and would fit in well in CMLL if that’s why she and they want to do.

The first four matches all did have non-clean finishes. Mini Cibernetico broke the law by removing Dorada’s mask before pinning him, but was not charged with the crime. No specific word on the DQ in the second match, but it probably was for one of the rudas pulling Lluvia’s mask. DQ in the tercera was for Ephesto taking off his own mask and tossing it. (Mephisto hurt a knee in this one.) DQ in the cuatro was for Scorpio (Solitario replacement) fouling and unmasking Mascara. Japan vs Renegados finished clean, we think.

Before the opener, Enrique pegged the crowd as 10,000, 80% of capacity. It’s possible it filled up a bit more as the show went on. The show was to be taped for television, but there were lots of pre-show issues – many guys only made it last minute, and the lights were late – so who knows.

HE HAD THE MATCH OF THE YEAR! BUT HE MIGHT NOT BE THE BEST MAN IN THE PROMOTION

HE MAY HAVE THE MATCH OF THE YEAR AGAIN! HE MAY MAIN EVENT BOTH OF THE BIGGEST SHOWS OF THE YEAR!

AAA IS LOSING THEIR MIND!

SOMEONE IS WAKING UP KONNAN

PACO ALONSO IS A HALL OF FAMER!

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS MAN

DO NOT MAKE SOMEONE HAVE A MATCH WITH VAMPIRO

ALL 1000 PEOPLE SHOWING UP TO TUESDAY SHOWS WILL GO CRAZY

AAA LOST THE ONLY BELT THEY CARE ABOUT!

CMLL HAS IT’S NINETEEN TITLE! MAYBE IT’S TWENTIETH! I DON’T KNOW!

HIJO DE DR. WAGNER HAS A CMLL JOB FOR LIFE!

WHO WILL HE CHALLENGE TO HAVE A MASK MATCH WITH?

WHO WILL HE NOT CHALLENGE TO HAVE A MASK MATCH WITH?

THE VIDEO GAME COVER! THIS IS WHY YOU PUT PARKA ON THE COVER!

WILL THE LAST ONE LEFT IN AAA PLEASE TURN OFF THE LIGHTS?

DOUBLE RAINBOW

DOUBLE RAINBOW!

edit: Wagner is telling people he’s on great terms with AAA. People on great terms with their promotion often fly out to appear on the opposition’s shows, don’t you know. This was a fun hour, anyway, it’ll be far more confusing in the morning.

What a main event. Pictures after the link are exactly what you want them to be.

Semimain sets up a title match next week.

Dr. Wagner Jr. talked about his Lucha Libre Premier win to NotiMex, noting “we must not allow these titles be won by foreign fighters.” Is Wagner the rudo here? I’m never sure. Anyway, I actually wanted to use this to jump off on a more important point – if AAA would not have Wagner lose in this (completely meaninglessly, to be honest) tournament, why would the have him lose the Mega title? Dr. Wagner is the big big big favorite to retain the title at Guerra de Titanes.

AAA wrote some about Mesias’ annual trip back to Puerto Rico over the winter. El Sol de Cuatutla has a story off of AAA’s press release, and the actual news here is Ricky Banderas is scheduled to face WWE’s Carlito Colon. Both Carlito and Primo get to wrestle one match a year outside WWE in Puerto Rico, so this is that match for Carlito, and AAA is billing it as a big AAA vs WWE match. Which only makes sense if Mesias is going to win.

CMLL posted a preview for Tuesday’s show on it’s news page. I suspect this is what they send out to the new agencies and we’ll see the same quotes in ESTO tomorrow.

Box Y Lucha posted 8 articles overnight again. I’m not sure all the lucha sites have figured this out yet, but the internet is actually different than publishing magazines. You don’t have to do all the articles at once – you can post something every day, because the idea is people come back often, not just once a week. There’s no extra cost for publishing daily as opposed to weekly, and then your articles won’t be dated. Crazy, I know.

Anyway, the magazine itself is all on Sin Salida, with the lineup as the cover. There had to be a better picture of Yujiro available.

Their solution to low attendance: more affordable prices. Eh. They’re hoping the economy will turn around to the point where they might consider bringing in people around March, but they’re requiring all people interested (ex-AAAers specifically here), that they work as hard in the gym as the guys they currently have.

The crew feels like they’ve elevated by Valiente (maybe), Mascara Dorada (sure), Dragon Rojo (yes), Sangre Azteca (yes), Misterioso (maybe) and will try for Angel de Oro, Angel de Plata, Angel Azteca Jr., Delta, Diamante and Rouge next year. Might want to try a rudo somewhere along the line there.

There are plans to send CMLL wrestlers to Africa and South America (about time), and there are tours (to unspecified locations) in April & May. They have contacted TNA, but “they have had changes in organization and structure” and they’re waiting to see what TNA wants to do. They hope Val Venis is still coming in.

– Amapola says she’s been thrilled with the progress she’s made in CMLL, but is thinking about taking some time away from wrestling in a couple years to become a mother.

– Pierrothito says Pierroth doesn’t need a benefit show, but a show at Arena Mexico honoring him would be a great idea. You know, CMLL is going to have like 30 pointless shows between Sin Salida and Dos Leyendas; have Pierrothito defend his title in the semimain of a fan appreciation show and just do it off that. Wouldn’t take any effort.

– Wrestlers in Neza are forming some combination of a promotion/union, calling it the Federacion de Luchadors and aiming to run weekly at Arena Neza.

In thrilling news, I actually have the 52MX/Teleformula/AYM Sports/whatever I’m forgetting here channel package. In less thrilling news, I would’ve had it two weeks ago if Comcast had given me the package I had asked. (We’re all good now.) Didn’t start getting it until this morning, so nothing from this past weekend, but expect stuff to start turning up next weekend.